WVTK Local & State News August 9, 2010

A West Rutland man died Friday when the car he was driving rear-ended a tractor-trailer. It happened on Friday Afternoon along Route 7 at the intersection with Cady Road in Middlebury. Police said 57-year-old Edmund Young Jr. was headed southbound on Route 7 when he collided with a tractor-trailer, which had stopped to make a left turn.

Middlebury College has received a $1.7-Million grant to purchase a new research boat. The doubled-hulled catamaran will help students to conduct science research on Lake Champlain. It will replace a 25-year-old lobster boat currently used by the school. The new vessel is expected to launch in 2012.

Rutland’s Routes 4 & 7 Committee will meet this week to discuss how the city would progress if the project receives its “categorical exclusion,” essentially the green light to move forward with construction. According to the municipal project manager it appears likely the project is about to receive that go ahead, as well as its environmental permits. The local share of the project that needs to be raised is expected to be between $250,000 and $350,000 and would likely be generated by a city ballot question.

In the wake of two recent drownings, officials are reminding residents about the inherent dangers of Adirondack waters. Last month, a 12-year-old boy from Florida drowned in the Ausable River in Keene and last weekend, another man died after jumping from a 60-foot cliff at Rock Pond in Ticonderoga.

Taxes in New York for anyone buying shoes and clothing will be going up. Governor Patterson issued a temporary reinstatement of a 4-percent state sales tax on clothing and shoe purchases of $110 or less. The clothing tax hike will take effect on October 1st and stay in place through March 31 of next year.

Bethany Bosch of West Rutland will be participating in an 8-mile Lake Swim on Lake Champlain that raises funds for the Greater Burlington YMCA’s aquatic programs. 

The 14th annual Lake Swim happens at 9 a.m. Saturday, beginning from the YMCA Camp Abnaki in North Hero. Anyone who would like to make a donation to Bosch’s fundraising effort can mail it to her at P.O. Box 2, West Rutland, VT 05777.

The annual Travis Roy Wiffle Ball Tournament was a huge success this year, bringing in more than $300-thousand this year. Hundreds came from all around this weekend to play in the charity wiffle ball tournament. The money raised this year brings the grand total raised over the past 9 years to over $1-million for spinal cord injury research and for those living with spinal cord injuries.

Starting today, the Vermont Agency Of Transportation will begin installing signs around the state reminding drivers to move over and change lanes if they see an emergency vehicle. According to the group Move Over America, in the last 10 years, 167 police officers have been killed on the side of the road by on-coming traffic.

The co-owner of a now-closed Grand Isle slaughterhouse wanted on animal cruelty charges has been arrested in New York. The attorney general's office says 51-year-old Frank Perretta of Grand Isle was arraigned Friday in St. Lawrence County as a fugitive from justice and released on $2,000 bail.

North Country Community College will hold new student registration session on the Saranac Lake, Ticonderoga and Malone campuses on Aug. 27. Registration begins at 9 a.m. This is the final open registration prior to the Aug. 31 start of the fall 2010 semester. For more information contact North Country Community College enrollment management at 891-2915 ext. 686 or admissions@nccc.edu.

All area youth are invited to two free movie nights on Wednesday and Thursday, Aug. 11 and 12, at 9 p.m. The Adirondack Regional Outreach Work in cooperation with local churches and community groups will host the event at the Schroon Lake Boathouse on Dock Street. Parents and youth leaders are also welcome to attend. The featured movie is "To Save A Life," a PG-13 indie-movie, about the real-life challenges facing the teens of today and their choices.

A couple from Florida walked away from a plane crash Saturday afternoon. Police say Everett Glines and his wife were experiencing engine trouble when their single engine plane crashed into the runway at the Morrisonville-Stowe Airport, eventually sliding off the runway and flipping onto its roof. Both were able to climb out of the plane with no problems.

The Plattsburgh City Council has awarded a contract to begin construction on the new Saranac Trail. The project will bring a paved trail from the footbridge behind Plattsburgh High School to the now-closed Saranac Street Bridge. It will feature informational markers identifying plants, animals and historical locations while also providing a well-lit path for outdoor adventurers.

The home which once belonged to President Calvin Coolidge has a new addition. The expansion at the Coolidge homestead in Plymouth Notch involves a museum, classroom space and visitor's center. Elected as vice president in 1920, Coolidge was sworn in as the nation's 30th president in 1923 after the sudden death of President Warren Harding in 1923.

The nation's oldest long distance hiking trail is celebrating a milestone. The Long Trail, which runs 273 miles from the Massachusetts border to the Canadian border, turns 100 years old this year. The trail was built in 1910 by the Green Mountain Club. Since it's construction, the Long Trail has inspiring even longer trails such as the Appalachian trial, and the Continental Divide trail.

Good news sports fans, Vermont's only professional basketball team is returning for another season. The new leaders of the Frost Heaves announced the team is returning for its 5th season in Barre. There was doubt the team would be back. But a group of fans took over the team, raised money and received the okay on Friday from the league to continue.